PayPal, Tech CU Partner on P2P ATM: Onsite Coverage

BALTIMORE — PayPal, NCR and $1.7 billion Technology Credit Union joined together at the 2012 NACHA conference to announce an innovative ATM that offers users a new option: With a very few clicks on the ATM screen they can use PayPal to send money to just about any U.S. mobile phone number, and at least some international numbers are on the way, said David Green, a marketing manager at Tech CU.

Steve Nogalo, an NCR vice president, said that the ATM requires a software-only upgrade, that is, purchase of new hardware is not required to implement this. He added that in the U.S. financial institutions have not used ATMs to drive new revenues and, in NCR’s mind, this service may be a way to do that.

San Jose, Calif.-based Tech CU – which has announced its intent to pursue conversion to a bank – said it planned to charge users a fee for PayPal transfers via ATM.

“We will charge 39 cents,” said Green, who indicated that will be a flat fee. “We will see how that goes,” said Green.

“We believe we can make available through ATMs services that presently are only available online or through mobile banking,” added Nogalo.

For PayPal’s part, this initiative is part of a broader pushby the eBay subsidiary to offer person-to-person payments as a service to credit unions and banks.

Dan Schatt, a PayPal executive, said at the Tuesday session in Baltimore, “We think there is a big play in helping the industry reduce the number of paper checks. We think we have a way to do that.”

Tech CU indicated it planned to make the service available to all of its ATM cardholders.